Isaiah 31 commentary

ISAIAH 31 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.
1.BARNES, “Wo - (see the note at Isa_30:1).
To them that go down to Egypt - (see the note at Isa_30:2).
And stay on horses - (see the note at Isa_30:16).
And trust in chariots - (see the note at Isa_21:7). That they were often used in war, is
apparent from the following places Jos_11:4; Jdg_1:19; 1Sa_13:5; 2Sa_8:4.
Because they are many - Because they hope to secure the aid of many. See the references
above. It is evident that their confidence in them would be in proportion to the number which
they could bring into the field.
But they look not ... - (see the note at Isa_30:1)
2. CLARKE, “Wo to them that go down to Egypt - This is a reproof to the Israelites for
forming an alliance with the Egyptians, and not trusting in the Lord.

And stay on horses “Who trust in horses” - For ‫ועל‬ veal, and upon, first twenty MSS. of
Kennicott’s, thirty of De Rossi’s, one of my own, and the Septuagint, Arabic, and Vulgate, read ‫על‬
al, upon, without the conjunction, which disturbs the sense.
3. GILL, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help,.... Or, "O ye that go down", &c.;
what poor foolish creatures are you! And in the end what miserable and wretched ones will ye
be! Such were the Jewish rulers and people, who either went themselves, or sent ambassadors to
the king of Egypt, to supply them with men and horses against the king of Assyria, contrary to
the express command of God, which forbid them returning to Egypt; and which showed their
unmindfulness of deliverance from thence, and their not having a due sense of that mercy upon
them; as well as their so doing exposed them to the danger of being drawn into the superstitions
and idolatries of that people:
and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in
horsemen, because they are very strong; having their dependence upon, and placing their
confidence in, the strength and numbers of the cavalry of the Egyptians:
but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord; they did not look
unto the Lord with an eye of faith, nor seek him by prayer and supplication; or ask any counsel
or instruction of him, as the Targum paraphrases the last clause; so that their sin lay not only in
their confidence in the creature, but in their neglect of the Lord himself; and so all such persons
are foolish and miserable, that trust in an arm of flesh, that place their confidence in creature
acts, in their own righteousness, duties, and services, and have no regard to the Holy One of
Israel, to the holiness and righteousness of Christ, neglect that, and do not submit to it; thus the
Targum interprets the former clause of the Word of the Holy One of Israel, the essential Word
Christ.
4. HENRY, “This is the last of four chapters together that begin with woe; and they are all
woes to the sinners that were found among the professing people of God, to the drunkards of
Ephraim (Isa_28:1), to Ariel (Isa_29:1), to the rebellious children (Isa_30:1), and here to those
that go down to Egypt for help; for men's relation to the church will not secure them from
divine woes if they live in contempt of divine laws. Observe,
I. What the sin was that is here reproved, Isa_31:1. 1. Idolizing the Egyptians, and making court
to them, as if happy were the people that had the Egyptians for their friends and allies. They go
down to Egypt for help in every exigence, as if the worshippers of false gods had a better
interest in heaven and were more likely to have success of earth than the servants of the living
and true God. That which invited them to Egypt was that the Egyptians had many chariots to
accommodate them with, and horses and horsemen that were strong; and, if they could get a
good body of forces thence into their service, they would think themselves able to deal with the
king of Assyria and his numerous army. Their kings were forbidden to multiply horses and
chariots, and were told of the folly of trusting to them (Psa_20:7); but they think themselves
wiser than their Bible. 2. Slighting the God of Israel: They look not to the Holy One of Israel, as
if he were not worth taking notice of in this distress. They advise not with him, seek not his
favour, nor are in any care to make him their friend.

5. JAMISON, “Isa_31:1-9. The chief strength of the Egyptian armies lay in their cavalry.
and stay on horses, and trust in chariots — In their level and fertile plains horses could
easily be used and fed (Exo_14:9; 1Ki_10:28). In hilly Palestine horses were not so easily had or
available. The Jews were therefore the more eager to get Egyptian chariots as allies against the
Assyrian cavalry. In Assyrian sculptures chariots are represented drawn by three horses, and
with three men in them (see Isa_36:9; Psa_20:7; Dan_9:13).
6. K&D, “There is nothing to surprise us in the fact, that the prophet returns again and again
to the alliance with Egypt. After his warning had failed to prevent it, he wrestled with it in spirit,
set before himself afresh the curse which would be its certain fruit, brought out and unfolded the
consolation of believers that lay hidden in the curse, and did not rest till the cursed fruit, that
had become a real thing, had been swallowed up by the promise, which was equally real. The
situation of this fourth woe is just the same as that of the previous one. The alliance with Egypt
is still in progress. “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely upon horses, and put
their trust in chariots, that there are many of them; and in horsemen, that there is a powerful
multitude of them; and do not look up to the Holy One of Israel, and do not inquire for
Jehovah! And yet He also is wise; thus then He brings evil, and sets not His words aside; and
rises up against the house of miscreants, and against the help of evil-doers. And Egypt is man,
and not God; and its horses flesh, and not spirit. And when Jehovah stretches out His hand, the
helper stumbles, and he that is helped falls, and they all perish together.” The expression “them
that go down” (hayyoredı̄m) does not imply that the going down was taking place just then for the
first time. It is the participle of qualification, just as God is called ‫א‬ ֵ‫ּר‬ ַ‫.ה‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫זְר‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ְ‫ל‬ with Lamed of the
object, as in Isa_20:6. The horses, chariots, and horsemen here, as those of Egypt, which
Diodorus calls ᅷππάσιµος, on account of its soil being so suitable for cavalry (see Lepsius in
Herzog's Cyclopaedia). The participle is combined in the finite verb. Instead of ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל־סוּס‬ ַ‫ע‬ְ‫,ו‬ we also
find the reading preferred by Norzi, of ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ without Vav, as in Isa_5:11 (cf., Isa_5:23). The
perfects, ‫עוּ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ and ‫שׁוּ‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ד‬ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬, are used without any definite time, to denote that which was always
wanting in them. The circumstantial clause, “whilst He is assuredly also wise,” i.e., will bear
comparison with their wisdom and that of Egypt, is a touching µείωσις. It was not necessary to
think very highly of Jehovah, in order to perceive the reprehensible and destructive character of
their apostasy from Him. The fut. consec. ‫א‬ ֵ‫ב‬ָ ַ‫ו‬ is used to indicate the inevitable consequence of
their despising Him who is also wise. He will not set aside His threatening words, but carry them
out. The house of miscreants is Judah (Isa_1:4); and the help (abstr. pro concr., just as Jehovah
is frequently called “my help,” ‛ezrathı̄, by the Psalmist) of evil-doers is Egypt, whose help has
been sought by Judah. The latter is “man” ('adam), and its horses “flesh” (basar); whereas
Jehovah is God (El) and spirit (ruach; see Psychol. p. 85). Hofmann expounds it correctly: “As
ruuach has life in itself, it is opposed to the basar, which is only rendered living through the rua
ch; and so El is opposed to the corporeal 'adam, who needs the spirit in order to live at all.” Thus
have they preferred the help of the impotent and conditioned, to the help of the almighty and
all-conditioning One. Jehovah, who is God and spirit, only requires to stretch out His hand (an
anthropomorphism, by the side of which we find the rule for interpreting it); and the helpers,
and those who are helped (i.e., according to the terms of the treaty, though not in reality), that is
to say, both the source of the help and the object of help, are all cast into one heap together.

6B. PULPIT, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help (comp. Isa_30:1, Isa_30:2; and see also the
earlier prophecy, Isa_20:2-6). The examples of Samaria, Gaza, and Ashdod might well have taught the
lesson of distrust of Egypt, without any Divine warnings. But the Jews were infatuated, and relied on
Egypt despite her previous failures to give effective aid. And stay on horses. The Assyrian cavalry was
very numerous, and very efficient. It is often represented on the monuments. Egyptian cavalry, on the
other hand, is not represented at all; and it may be questioned whether, in the early times, the Egyptian
war-horses were not entirely employed in the chariot-service. The later dynasties of Egyptian kings,
however, employed cavalry, as appears from 2Ch_12:3; Herod; 2:162; 'Records of the Past,' vol. 2. pp.
68, 70, 72, etc. And trust in chariots, because they are many. The large number of the chariots
maintained by the Pharaohs is abundantly evidenced. Diodorus assigns to Sesostris twenty-seven
thousand (1. 54, § 4). This is, no doubt, an exaggeration; but the six hundred of the Pharaoh of the
Exodus (Exo_14:7), and even the one thousand two hundred of Shishak (2Ch_12:3) are moderate
computations, quite in accord with the monuments, and with all that we otherwise know of Egyptian
warfare. Egypt exported chariots to the neighboring countries (1Ki_10:29), and was at this time the only
power which seemed capable of furnishing such a chariot-force as could hope to contend on tolerably
even terms with the force of Assyria. They look not unto the Holy One of
Israel (comp. Isa_30:11, Isa_30:12). The trust in the Egyptian alliance was accompanied by a distrust of
Jehovah and his power, and a disinclination to look to him for aid.
7. CALVIN, “1.Woe to them that go down to Egypt. He again returns to the subject which he had
handled at the beginning of the former chapter; for he still cries loudly against the Jews, whose ordinary
custom it was, in seasons of danger, to resort, not to the Lord, but to the Egyptians. We have formerly
explained why this was so highly displeasing to God. To state the matter briefly, there are two reasons
why the Prophet reproves this crime so severely. The first is, because it is impossible for us to place
confidence for our salvation in creatures, and at the same time in God; for our eyes must be withdrawn
from him as soon as they are directed to them. The second reason is, God had expressly forbidden them
to enter into alliance with the Egyptians. (Deu_17:16.) To sinful confidence was added rebelliousness, as
if they had resolved to provide for their safety by despising God, and by disobeying his will.
We must therefore look at the source of this evil, if we wish to understand fully the Prophet’ meaning.
There was also a peculiar reason, as we have formerly remarked, why the Lord wished the Jews to have
no intercourse with the Egyptians. It was, lest that wicked alliance should obliterate the remembrance of
the redemption from Egypt, and lest they should be corrupted by the superstitions and sinful idolatry of
the Egyptians. Yet these arguments were regarded by them as of no weight; and, though God had
forbidden it, this did not hinder them from continually applying to them for assistance, and imagining that
their assistance was a shield which defended them against the arm of God. Consequently, there are good
reasons why the Prophet exclaims so earnestly against such madness. Even on the ground that God had
forbidden it, their “ down into Egypt” deserved to be severely blamed; but it was still more intolerably
criminal, that by false confidence they bestowed on mortal men the glory which was due to God. In order
to make it still more clear that in this manner they defraud God of his right, he not only accuses them of
having relied on the Egyptians, but likewise brings a charge against them, on the other hand, that
They have not looked to the Holy One of Israel. Here appears more clearly the reason why that treachery
of the Jews is so sharply reproved by Isaiah; for in other respects God does not disapprove of our using
lawful remedies, just as we eat bread and other kinds of food which were intended for our use. Thus if
any person, placed in danger, employ means which were not forbidden, but which are customary and
lawful, provided that he do not at all deny the power of God, he certainly ought not to be blamed; but if we

are so strongly attached to outward means, that we do not at the same time seek God, and if, through
distrust of his promises, we resort to unlawful methods, this is worthy of condemnation and abhorrence.
The word look is frequently employed in Scripture to denote this confidence; for we commonly turn our
eyes towards that quarter from which we expect assistance. In a word, we are here taught that we ought
to place our trust for salvation in none other than in God alone, that, relying on his promises, we may
boldly ask from him whatever is desirable. He undoubtedly permits us to use all things which he intended
for our use, but in such a manner that our minds must be entirely fixed on him.
When he calls God “ Holy One of Israel,” he presents in a striking light the wickedness and ingratitude of
the people, who, after having been taken under God’ protection and guardianship, despised such a
protector and guardian of their salvation, and ran eagerly after their own lusts. By immediately
adding, neither have they sought Jehovah, he shews that neither the power, nor the goodness, nor the
fatherly kindness of God, could keep them in the discharge of their duty. In the present day, since he
invites us not less kindly to come to him, we offer a grievous insult to him if we look to any other, and do
not resolve to trust in him alone; and everything that shall turn away and withdraw our minds from God
will be to us like “”
8. PULPIT, “Names for God.
Here the Lord, or Jehovah, is called the "Holy One of Israel." When the mysterious name "Jehovah" was
given, another name, suited for more familiar use, was commended, even this, "the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob." Instructive suggestions come from placing these three names together, as
representing
(1) God absolute;
(2) God in relations;
(3) God in history.
I. "I AM" (YEHVEH); OR, GOD ABSOLUTE.
1. This name in truth involves the namelessness of God. It is as if he had said to Moses, "You ask for my
Name. 'I am,' and that is all that you can say about me." The words are not, properly speaking, a name;
they are but the assertion of a fact about God. They are a refusal of God to put all his great glory into a
name. A name is the brief summing-up of a definition, and since it must ever be an impossible thing
wholly to define God, he cannot permit any name to be used which shall appear to assume that a
definition has been found.
2. This so-called name involves the unity of God. It is as if he had said, "I am, and there is none beside
me." In a magnificent conception, the prophet represents Jehovah as rising up from his place, scanning
the whole universe, from the infinite east to the infinite west, and then, seating himself again upon his
eternal throne, saying, "There is no God beside me; I know no other."
3. This so-called name involves the self-existence of God. It is as if he had said, "I am, and no one made
me." None gave him being. On no one has he to depend. He has life in himself. He is the very Fountain of

life. And thus is declared the perfect and eternal distinction between God and all created existence.
Nowhere can we find uncaused being. Everywhere are effects which can be more or less perfectly traced
to their causes. In Jehovah we have effect without cause. "In the beginning God." "From everlasting to
everlasting thou art God." 4. This so-called name involves the eternity of God. It is as if he had said, "I
am, and shall be forever." It is absolutely impossible for us to conceive of the force which can stop his
existence. There is no death that can touch him.
"How dread are thine eternal years,
O ever-living Lord!"
This impression of God as the Unknowable, Unseeable, August, and Awful One, our souls greatly need in
these light and frivolous times. God is revealed to the soul in awe. A horror of great darkness fell on
Abraham, and under it he saw God. Trembling agony filled the soul of wrestling Jacob, and in the awe of
his conflict he heard God. We may heed the voice that says, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be
exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth."
II. "GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB," OR, GOD IN PERSONAL RELATIONS WITH US. We
are to know what God, is by observing what he has been to his people, and what he has done for them.
By calling himself thus, God represents himself as the Promise-maker and Promise-keeper. At the call of
God Abraham had broken away from his Chaldean home, and wandered forth, a sojourner in a strange
land; but God was faithful to his word, and proved towards him an unchanging Friend. Guilty Jacob fled
from home, and God met him, revealing himself as the faithful Watcher, willing to be in close and gracious
personal relations with him. For years, while in service, God blessed his basket and his store. When
journeying back to Canaan, God defended him, subdued the enmity of Esau, and gave him prosperity
and honor. Few lives are offered for our study which bear such manifest traces of the nearness and
providence of God. Few names could suggest so much to us as this most simple one—the God of Jacob.
Stilt God is what he has ever been—Defense of his endangered people; Wisdom for his perplexed
people; Support of his enfeebled people; Correcter of his mistaken people; Savior of his sinning people.
For all the actual needs of a tried, toiling, tempted life, we may come, even as the patriarchs did, into
close personal relations with God, for "this is his Name forever, and this is his memorial to all
generations." Graves, in his work on the Pentateuch, says, "The peculiar and incommunicable character
of God is self-existence; he is the great 'I Am.' But this abstract and philosophical description of the
Supreme Being was not sufficiently calculated to arrest the attention, conciliate the confidence, and
command the obedience of a people entirely unaccustomed to scientific speculations, and incapable of
being influenced by any other than temporal motives; it was therefore necessary to represent to them the
Governor of the universe in a more circumscribed and attractive form, as the God of the fathers, who had
conferred the most distinguished honors on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to whom their posterity
might—from the full confidence which fact and experience supply—look up and trust as their peculiar
guardian God."
III. "HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL;" OR, GOD IN HISTORY. This is the new name given to God, when his
dealings with our race through many generations could be reviewed, and the character of all those
dealings make due impression of the character of God himself. What one thing comes out most plainly
from all reviews of God in history? The prophet says, in reply, his holiness. This estimate of God may be
illustrated on the following lines.
1. The Holy One or Israel has ever been faithful to his covenant.

2. The Holy One of Israel has ever required the holiness of a simple and trustful obedience.
3. The Holy One of Israel has ever been swift to mark iniquity.
4. The Holy One of Israel has ever been redeeming and saving.
5. The Holy One of Israel has ever been jealous of his supreme claims. "His glory he would never give to
another." So the three great names on which we have been dwelling
(1) touch us with reverence and awe;
(2) open our eyes to see his working all round about us; and
(3) call upon us to render to him hearty trust and lowly service.—R.T.
2 Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster;
he does not take back his words.
He will rise up against that wicked nation,
against those who help evildoers.
1.BARNES, “Yet he also is wise - God is wise. It is in vain to attempt to deceive him, or to
accomplish such purposes without his knowledge.
And will bring evil - The punishment which is due to such want of confidence in him.
But will arise against the house of the evil-doers - This is a general proposition, and it
is evidently just as true now as it was in the time of Isaiah.
2. CLARKE, “His words “His word” - ‫דברו‬ debaro, singular, without ‫י‬ yod, two MSS. of
Dr. Kennicott’s the Septuagint, and Targ. Hieros. ‫דרכיו‬ derachaiv, his ways, is found in one MS.

3. GILL, “Yet he also is wise,.... That is, God, the Holy One of Israel, is, whom they
disregarded; and wiser too than the Egyptians, to whom they sought for help, and who were
thought to be a wise and political people; and wiser than themselves, who imagined they acted a
prudent part, in applying to them; so wise as to know all their schemes, and able to confound
them, as well as most certainly and fully to complete his own; and it would have been therefore
the highest wisdom to have sought to him, and not to men:
and will bring evil; the evil of punishment or affliction on wicked men, which he has
threatened, and which they could in no wise escape, by taking the methods they did:
and will not call back his words; his threatenings delivered by the prophets: these, as he
does not repent of, he will not revoke or make void, but fulfil and accomplish; what he has said
he will do, and what he has purposed he will bring to pass; and therefore it was a weak and an
unwise part they acted, by applying to others, and slighting him:
but will arise against the house of evildoers; not the ten tribes of Israel, as Jarchi and
Kimchi interpret it; but rather the people of the Jews, or some particular family among them; it
may be the royal family, chiefly concerned in sending the embassy to Egypt, or in advising to it;
though it may be the singular is put for the plural, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render
it "the houses"; and so may design all those great families which joined in this affair, and are
therefore called "evildoers"; as all such are that put their confidence in the creature, and not in
the Lord; and against such he will "arise", in a hostile manner, sooner or later, against whom
there is no standing; see Job_9:4,
and against the help of them that work iniquity; that is, against the Egyptians, the
helpers of the Jews, who were workers of iniquity, and therefore their help and hope in it would
be in vain; or else the latter part is descriptive of the Egyptians their helpers, who were a wicked
and idolatrous nation, and so not to be sought unto for help, or trusted in, since, God being
against them, it would be to no purpose, as he is against all workers of iniquity.
4. HENRY, “The gross absurdity and folly of this sin. 1. They neglected one whom, if they
would not hope in him, they had reason to fear. They do not seek the Lord, nor make their
application to him, yet he also is wise, Isa_31:2. They are solicitous to get the Egyptians into an
alliance with them, because they have the reputation of a politic people; and is not God wise too?
and would not infinite wisdom, engaged on their side, stand them in more stead than all the
policies of Egypt? They are at the pains of going down to Egypt, a tedious journey, when they
might have had better advice, and better help, by looking up to heaven, and would not. But, if
they will not court God's wisdom to act for them, they shall find it act against them. He is wise,
too wise for them to outwit, and he will bring evil upon those who thus affront him. He will not
call back his words as men do (because they are fickle and foolish), but he will arise against the
house of the evil-doers, this cabal of them that go down to Egypt; God will appear to their
confusion, according to the word that he has spoken, and will oppose the help they think to
bring in from the workers of iniquity. Some think the Egyptians made it one condition of their
coming into an alliance with him that they should worship the gods of Egypt, and they
consented to it, and therefore they are both called evil-doers and workers of iniquity.

5. JAMISON, “he also is wise — as well as the Egyptian priests, so famed for wisdom
(Act_7:22), but who are “fools” before Him (Isa_19:11). He not only devises, but executes what
He devises without “calling back His words” (Num_23:19).
home — the whole race.
help — the Egyptian succor sought by the Jews.
6. PULPIT, “The wisdom of God in his punishments.
"Yet he also is wise." These words seem to have been spoken as an ironical parenthesis. He also, as well
as the Jewish politicians. "The words vindicate to Jehovah the skill and power adequate to inflict
punishment on both the contracting parties, together with veracity in carrying his threatenings into
execution." "God was as wise as the Egyptians, and ought therefore to have been consulted; he was as
wise as the Jews, and could therefore thwart their boasted policy." As Isaiah leads us to consider so
many phases of the subject of Divine punishment, we only suggest this topic as giving a fresh point of
view. We are reminded of the wisdom, rather than the mysteriousness, severity, or love, of the Divine
judgments and chastisements. In sending calamities "God is wise." Covering the whole subject, the
following divisions may be taken.
I. God's wisdom is seen in the threatenings, which act as warnings, and increase the guiltiness of the
willful.
II. God's wisdom is seen in making his threatenings conditional, so that repentance of, and forsaking, sin
may be hopeful.
III. God's wisdom is seen in fulfilling threatenings, so that no willful men may dare to presume.
IV. God's wisdom is seen in what he does for sinners themselves by his judgments.
V. God's wisdom is seen in what he does by his judgments for the spiritual training of the onlookers. "He
is known by the judgments which he executeth."—R.T.
7. PULPIT, “Divine reservation and consistency.
"Yet he will bring evil, and will not call back his words" Doubtless God seems to call back his words.
"The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do" (Exo_32:14; 2Sa_24:16; Jdg_2:18, etc.). "He
heard their cry and repented, according to the multitude of his mercies", (Psa_105:44, Psa_105:45).
Yet, says the prophet, "he will bring evil and not call back his words." How explain this? The explanation
of it is found in the fact that there is some necessary reservation understood, if not expressed, in the
Divine promise and in the Divine threatening.
I. HIS RESERVATION AND CONSISTENCY IN PROMISE. God promises life to the obedient and the
faithful; yet there are those who believe themselves, and are believed, to be among this number, whose
end is destruction. Has God called back his word? No; for his promise was contingent on their
steadfastness, and they have forfeited all claim on his promised word

(Jos_24:20; Psa_85:8; Eze_33:13; Joh_15:6; Heb_6:4 :8).
II. HIS RESERVATION AND CONSISTENCY IN THREATENING. Although God may seem to call back
his words of solemn threatening, yet he "will bring evil;" he is not inconsistent with himself.
1. God reveals his wrath against sin. He declares that it shall not go unpunished; that the soul that sinneth
shall die; that the wages of sin is death.
2. God offers pardon. The message of the gospel of Christ is essentially and emphatically one of Divine
mercy.
3. His mercy in Christ Jesus is large and free. It is not grudging, half-hearted. It is not like the forgiveness
we extend to one another (Isa_55:7-9). It means a complete restoration of the estranged but reconciled
child to full parental favor (Luk_15:22, Luk_15:23). Where, then, is the Divine consistency? It is found in
the consideration that:
4. His declaration of penalty was always contingent on the attitude of the sinner. (Eze_33:14, Eze_33:15.)
It is not intended to be absolute and unalterable, whatever be the future career of the guilty. Like all his
promises, God's warnings are conditional. God does not call back his own words from their meaning or
their fulfillment, he calls us back, through them, to our duty and to our right relation to himself. And,
besides:
5. He does bring evil in some serious measure. For:
(1) Previous to our penitence sin has wrought suffering, sorrow, weakness.
(2) At the time of penitential return it works self-reproach, shame, anxiety.
(3) Reconciliation is inevitably followed by some kind and some degree of spiritual deterioration; there is a
lost power, a lessened influence, a narrowed sphere—the absolutely irremovable consequences of
repeated wrong-doing and protracted ill-being.—C.
8. CALVIN, “2.Yet he also is wise. By calling God “” he does not merely bestow on him the honor of
an attribute which always belongs to him, but censures the craftiness of those whom he saw to be too
much delighted with their own wisdom. He said a little before, (Isa_29:15,) that they “ caves for
themselves,” when they thought that, by hidden plans and secret contrivances, they avoided and
deceived the eyes of God. He now pours witty ridicule on this madness, by affirming that, on the other
hand, wisdom belongs also to God; indirectly bringing against them the charge of believing that they
could shut God’ mouth as not knowing their affairs. As if he had said, “ shall become of your wisdom?”
Will the effect of it be that God shall cease to be “” On the contrary, by reproving your vanity, he will give
practical demonstration that “ taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” (Job_5:13;1Co_3:19.)
We may draw from this a general doctrine, that they who shelter themselves under craftiness and secret
contrivances, gain nothing but to provoke still more the wrath of God. A bad conscience always flees from
the judgment of God, and seeks lurking-places to conceal itself. Wicked men contrive various methods of
guarding and fortifying themselves against God, and think that they are wise and circumspect, even
though they be covered only with empty masks; while others, blinded by their elevated rank, despise God

and his threatenings. Thus, by declaring that “ is also wise,” the Prophet wounds them painfully and
sharply, that they may not lay claim to so great craftiness as to be capable of imposing on God by their
delusions.
He will arise against the house of the evil-doers. As they did not deserve that he should reason with them,
he threatens that they shall feel that God has his arguments at his command, for ensnaring
transgressors. First, they did not think that God has sufficient foresight, because he did not, according to
the ordinary practice of the world, provide for their safety amidst so great dangers, and because they
considered all threatenings to be empty bugbears, as if they had it in their power by some means to guard
against them. Hence arises their eagerness to make every exertion, and their hardihood to plot
contrivances. He therefore threatens that God will take revenge on so gross an insult, and that he has at
his command the means of executing what he has promised; and that no schemes, inventions, or
craftiness can overthrow the word of God.
Of the workers of vanity. (317) He gives them this appellation, because they wished to fortify themselves
against the hand of God by a useless defense; that is, by the unlawful aid of the Egyptians. Formerly, it
might be thought that he silently admitted their claim to the appellation of “ men,” by contrasting them with
the wisdom of God; but now he scatters the smoke, and openly displays their shame and disgrace. This
teaches us that there is nothing better than to renounce our own judgment, and to submit entirely to God;
because all that earnest caution by which wicked men torture themselves has no solidity, but, on the
contrary, as if on purpose, provokes the wrath of God by the deceitful contrivances of the flesh.
(317) “ them that work iniquity.” — Eng. Ver.
FT574 “ to him against whom you have entertained deep thoughts; in the same manner as you revolted,
and have still revolted, from him, return now to him.” — Jarchi. Among the commentators who belonged
to the Hebrew nation, or wrote in the Hebrew language, Jarchi was probably held, on the ground of the
first part of his paraphrase, to support that view which our Author condemns; but the second part of it,
beginning with “ the same manner as” approaches very closely to the Reformer’ own words. — Ed
FT575 Piscator and others construe ‫לאשר‬ (lăăĕ) as equivalent to ‫אשר‬ ‫ממנו‬ ‫,אליו‬ (ēlā ăĕ mĭĕū,) “ him from
whom.” Vitringa does not reject this exposition, which he acknowledges to be supported by an analogous
use of ‫,מאשר‬ (mēăĕ,) in Rut_2:9; but he pronounces the rendering, “ as.” to be more elegant and probably
more correct. Modern critics, however, approve of the meaning given in our common version. “ syntax
may be solved either by supposing ‘ him’ to be understood, and giving ‫לאשר‬ (lăăĕ) the sense of ‘ respect
to whom,’ or by assuming that, as both these ideas could be expressed by this one phrase, it was put but
once in order to avoid the tautology.” — Alexander. The other mode of resolving the syntax, by bringing
out the sense, “ him from whom,” appears to adhere more closely to the usage of the Hebrew language.
— Ed
FT576 ‫העמיקו‬ ‫סרה‬ (hĕĕīūāā) literally signifies, “ have deepened revolt;” and Professor Alexander justly
remarks that the substitution of the second person for the third, in the ancient versions, and in Barnes, (ye
have revolted), is wholly arbitrary. — Ed
FT577 “Enfans rebelles;” — “ children.”
FT578 “Et pourtant il marque la repentance par les fruits;” — “ therefore he points out repentance by the

fruits.”
FT579 See Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 1 p. 118
FT580 That is, he does not follow the ancient versions, by viewing it as an adjective, qualifying the word “”
— “ sinful hands.” — Ed
FT581 ‫לא‬ ‫איש‬ (lōī,) not of a man, that is, of one who is totally different from a man. The word ‫לא‬ (lō) often
unites with a substantive, so as to form one word, which shall bear a quite different and even opposite
meaning; as ‫תהו‬ ‫לא‬ ‫דרך‬ (tōūōĕĕ ‘ not-a-way,’ that is, ‘ impassable way.’ Psa_107:40; and ‫לא‬ ‫שם‬ ‫,לו‬ (lōē
lō,) ‘ shall have not-a-name,’ that is, ‘ shall have public disgrace.’ (Job_18:17.)” — Rosenmü. “ Hebrew
idiom; of one far different from a man, viz., an angel.” — Stock
FT582 “ his young men shall be discomfited. (Heb. for melting or tribute.)” — Eng. Ver.
FT583 “ he shall pass over to his stronghold (or, his strength) for fear, (Heb. his rock shall pass away for
fear.” — Eng. Ver.
3 But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God;
their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped will fall;
all will perish together.
1.BARNES, “Now the Egyptians are men - They are nothing but people; they have no
power but such as other people possess. The idea here is, that the case in reference to which they
sought aid was one in which “divine” help was indispensable, and that, therefore, they relied on
the aid of the Egyptians in vain.
And their horses flesh, and not spirit - There is need, not merely of “physical” strength,
but of wisdom, and intelligence, and it is in vain to look for that in mere brutes.

Both he that helpeth - Egypt, whose aid is sought.
And he that is holpen - Judah, that had sought the aid of Egypt. Neither of them would be
able to stand against the wrath of God.
2. CLARKE, “He that helpeth (the Egyptians) shall fall and he that is holpen (the Israelites)
shall fall down-together.
3. GILL, “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God,.... Be it that they are mighty, they
are not mighty, as God is; and indeed they are but frail, feeble, mortal, and mutable men, and
therefore not to be trusted in, and depended on; or to be put upon an equality with God, and
even to be preferred to him, as they were by the Jews; and of what use and service could they be
unto them, seeing God was against them?
and their horses flesh, and not spirit; only flesh, without an immortal soul or spirit, which
man has; and therefore a foolish thing in man to trust in them, who must be entirely guided and
directed by them; and much less angelic spirits, or like them, which are incorporeal, invisible,
and exceedingly mighty and powerful, which excel all creatures in strength, and are called the
mighty angels; these are God's cavalry, his horses and chariots; see Psa_68:17, Hab_3:8 and
what mighty things have been done by them, even by a single one? Witness the destruction of
the Assyrian army, in one night, by one of them; wherefore the Egyptian cavalry was not to be
named with them (q):
When the Lord shall stretch out his hand; as soon as he does it, before he strikes, and
when he does this in order to it:
both he that helpeth shall fall; or "stumble", take a false step; meaning the Egyptians, sent
for and come forth to help the Jews; but, stumbling and falling themselves, would be but poor
assistants to them. Aben Ezra interprets this of the king of Assyria destroying the Egyptians,
when he came to Jerusalem:
and he that is holpen shall fall down; the Jews, helped by the Egyptians, who should fall,
and be destroyed, though not now; yet hereafter by the Chaldeans, as they were:
and they all shall fail together; both the Egyptians and the Jews.
(q) So Ben Melech interprets "spirit" of an angel, as he does the word "God" in the preceding
clause.
4. HENRY, “They trusted to those who were unable to help them and would soon appear to
be so, Isa_31:3. Let them know that the Egyptians, whom they depend so much upon, are men
and not God. As it is good for men to know themselves to be but men (Psa_9:20), so it is good
for us to consider that those we love and trust to are but men. They therefore can do nothing
without God, nothing against him, nothing in comparison with him. They are men, and
therefore fickle and foolish, mutable and mortal, here to day and gone to morrow; they are men,
and therefore let us not make gods of them, by making them our hope and confidence, and

expecting that in them which is to be found in God only; they are not God, they cannot do that
for us which God can do, and will, if we trust in him. Let us not then neglect him, to seek to
them; let us not forsake the rock of ages for broken reeds, nor the fountain of living waters for
broken cisterns. The Egyptians indeed have horses that are very strong; but they are flesh, and
not spirit, and therefore, strong as they are, they may be wearied with a long march, and become
unserviceable, or be wounded and slain in battle, and leave their riders to be ridden over. Every
one knows this, that the Egyptians are not God and their horses are not spirit; but those that
seek to them for help do not consider it, else they would not put such confidence in them.
Sinners may be convicted of folly by the plainest and most self-evident truths, which they cannot
deny, but will not believe. 3. They would certainly be ruined with the Egyptians they trusted in,
Isa_31:3. When the Lord does but stretch out his hand how easily, how effectually, will he make
them ashamed of their confidence in Egypt, and the Egyptians ashamed of the encouragement
they gave them to trust in them; for he that helps and he that is helped shall fall together, and
their mutual alliance shall prove their joint ruin. The Egyptians were shortly to be reckoned
with, as appears by the burden of Egypt (ch. 19), and then those who fled to them for shelter and
succour should fall with them; for there is no escaping the judgments of God. Evil pursues
sinners, and it is just with God to make that creature a scourge to us which we make an idol of.
4. They took God's work out of his hands. They pretended a great deal of care to preserve
Jerusalem, in advising to an alliance with Egypt; and, when others would not fall in with their
measures, they pleaded self preservation, and went to Egypt themselves. Now the prophet here
tells them that Jerusalem should be preserved without aid from Egypt and that those who
tarried there should be safe when those who fled to Egypt should be ruined. Jerusalem was
under God's protection, and therefore there was no occasion to put it under the protection of
Egypt. But a practical distrust of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our sinful departures
from him to the creature. The prophet tells them he had it from God's own mouth: Thus hath the
Lord spoken to me. They might depend upon it, (1.)
5. JAMISON, “not spirit — not of divine power (Psa_56:4; Psa_146:3, Psa_146:5;
Zec_4:6).
he that helpeth — Egypt.
holpen — Judah.
6. BI, “Spiritual existences the chief forces of the world
It is here evidently implied that a spirit is mightier than a horse.
The ancients attached the idea of immense force to a well-trained war-horse.
I. SPIRIT IS THE ORIGINAL POWER We see power everywhere around us. We see it in the
inanimate world, as the effect which one element produces upon another, and in the motion
which one body, in a certain relation, produces upon another. We see it, also, in the world of life:
in the plant that turns to its use, and transmutes into its own essence, the elements that play
about it; in the beast that drags along the farmer’s harvest-wain, and in the bird that rises on the
wing, and chants its victories over that force that binds the earth and links it to the sun. All these
powers are manifestly effects, not ultimate causes—are derived, not primal. All true science
suggests this, and the Bible declares it. Spirit is the fontal force. It was spirit that gave to the
elements the proclivity to act and re-act on each other; and that so poised the masses of the
universe that one should gently press its fellow into lines and ratios of motion, and thus conduce
to the harmony and well-being of all. And the forces of life too, whether in the fibres of plants or

the muscles of flesh, are but the breathings of that Spirit which “reneweth the face of the earth.”
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.” “By
His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent.”
II. SPIRIT IS THE SUBORDINATING POWER. The horses of the Egyptians were “flesh and not
spirit.” Implying, probably, the fact, that the Egyptian cavalry lacked that intelligence and skill
necessary to render the noble animal of service in the field of battle. The value of the steed in the
strife is ever in proportion to the skill of the rider. “Wisdom is better than weapons of war.”
Reason is mightier than brute force. What force is there on earth that man cannot subordinate
to his will? Man can press every element into his service as well as every living creature. Let us
rise to a sense of the greatness of the nature with which God has endowed us. We are spirit;
emanations of the Infinite Mind, and members of that spiritual system for which matter, in all
its functions and forms, was made. Let us assert our supremacy over the material—“use the
world as not abusing it.” In one sense we can never think too highly of ourselves. “what shall it
profit a man?” &c. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Spirituality of the Divine nature
In these words we are reminded of an important and infinite disparity between God and man,
arising from a great peculiarity in the character of the former, which rendered the Egyptian
monarch and his cavalry infinitely inferior to Him in power, and Gall those other qualities which
entitle the possessor of them to confidence and trust.
I. The spirituality of the Divine nature is intimately connected with THE POSSESSION OF
ALMIGHTY POWER. The vulgar notion which would restrict the exercise of power to what is
corporeal, and deny it to that which is spiritual and immaterial, is a mere prejudice, founded on
gross inattention or ignorance. If we inquire after the original seat of power, we shall invariably
find it in mind, not in body; in spirit, not in flesh. The changes we are able to effect in the state
of the objects around us are produced through the instrumentality of the body, which is always
previously put in motion by the mind. As we can move certain parts of our bodies at pleasure,
and nothing intervenes betwixt the volition and the corresponding movements, so the great
original Spirit impresses on the machine of the universe what movements He pleases, and
without the intervention of any other cause. “He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it
stands fast.”
II. His spirituality is closely connected with His INVISIBILITY. “The King eternal, immortal,
invisible,” “whom no man hath seen, nor can see.”
Whatever is the object of sight must be perceived under some determinate shape or figure; it
must be, consequently, bounded by an outline, and occupy a determinate portion of space, and
no more; attributes utterly incompatible with the conceptions of an infinite being. He was
pleased formerly, indeed, to signalise His presence with His worshippers by visible symbols, by
an admixture of clouds and fire, of darkness and splendour; but that these were never intended
to exhibit His power, but merely to afford a sensible attestation of His special presence, is
evident, from the care He took to prevent His worshippers from entertaining degrading
conceptions of His character, by the solemn prohibition of attempting to represent Him by an
image or picture.
III. That God is spirit, and not flesh, is a view of His character closely connected with His
OMNIPRESENCE. Matter is subjected to a local circumscription; God, as a Spirit, is capable of
co-existing with every other order of being.

IV. Because God is spirit and not flesh, He is possessed of INFINITE WISDOM AND
INTELLIGENCE. Thought and perception are the attributes of mind, not of matter; of spirit, not
of flesh; and, for this reason, the original and great Spirit possesses them in an infinite degree.
V. The spirituality of the Divine nature lays A FOUNDATION FOR THE MOST INTIMATE
RELATION BETWEEN THE INTELLIGENT PART OF THE CREATION AND HIMSELF. He is
emphatically “the Father of spirits.”
VI. The spirituality of the Divine nature FITS HIM FOR BECOMING OUR ETERNAL
PORTION AND SUPREME GOOD. (Robert Hall, M. A.)
7. PULPIT, ” The help of Egypt.
A party in Judah is negotiating with Egypt; and the prophet points out the falseness of this policy.
I. IT IS A RELIANCE UPON BRUTE FORCE. "Horses" are symbolic of martial strength. And Judah,
being peculiarly deficient in cavalry, was "tempted to trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen"
(Isa_36:8, Isa_36:9). Famed in Homer was Egyptian Thebes, with the hundred gates, and the two
hundred men who issued forth from each with horses and chariots ('Iliad,' 9:382). The memory of the
pursuit of the Israelites at the time of the Exodus contained the picture of those chariots and horsemen
(Exo_14:6, Exo_14:9). They were in request in Solomon's time (1Ki_19:1-21 :26). Egyptian cavalry, the
very nerve and sinew of war; Egypt who possesses them, the most coveted ally. "On horses will we fly
on the swift will we ride," was the word of the party. Such was their "creaturely confidence." These
horses were but "flesh," and "all flesh is as grass," and withers when the breath of the Eternal blows upon
it. The strength of the creature is but the strength of the dependent nature; folly, then, to lean on that
which is itself a leaning thing.
II. IT IS A RELIANCE UPON MAN, AND NOT UPON GOD. Here man, as usual in the Hebrew prophets,
is sharply opposed to God; the dependent, the frail, the mortal, to the self-dependent, the Strong, the
Immortal and Eternal; the tool to the hand that holds it, the might that alone can render it effective. The
axe, the saw, the staff: they are dead and helpless things, until they are brought into connection with
spiritual force. So horses and chariots can avail naught, unless they be the instruments of the Lord of
hosts, the engines of a spiritual and enduring policy in the earth. Man himself, without tools and weapons,
is the most defenseless of animals; with them, yet still without God, he is in no better plight.
III. IT IS TYPICAL OF IRRELIGIOUSNESS IN GENERAL. The folly is not so much in looking to material
resources and defenses as in "not looking to the Holy One of Israel"—in "not consulting Jehovah." All
worldliness is negative, and there lies its weakness. It is a strategy of life which defeats itself; moving far
from the true base of operations, and finding itself presently cut off, without the chance of return. Again, it
is a departure from the Source of true wisdom. The "wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the
understanding ones"—this is policy, prudence. In Jehovah is a higher wisdom than that of Jewish
politicians; his is wisdom united with perfect rectitude. And without reverence for him, the "fear of
Jehovah," men do not partake of this higher wisdom.
IV. THE END OF EGYPTIAN HELP. In the first place, the hollowness of the Jewish policy will be
exposed. The word of Jehovah has gone forth, and will not come back to him void. For it is itself spiritual
force, truth, mightier than any material force that is known. Put into the mouth of a prophet (Jer_1:9),
those words become mighty as fire, to devour all that stays their course as wood (Jer_5:14). "All that the
Lord speaketh must be done" (Num_23:26). The wall of a worldly wisdom will bulge and suddenly fall,

and the "wisdom of the wise ones" be brought to naught. The words of the Eternal are backed up by the
hand of the Eternal; and, when stretched out, the "helper" who has been so much looked up to will be
seen to totter, and the "helped" one be buried beneath the ruins.—J.
8. PULPIT, “The folly of trusting in an arm of flesh.
"Put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man," says the psalmist (Psa_146:3); "for there is no help
in them." All human props are uncertain—
I. BECAUSE OF HUMAN CHANGEFULNESS. Men do not continue always of one mind. They make
promises, and regret that they have made them, and find some way of escaping their force, or else boldly
break them with a cynical disregard to what others may think or say. Their interests change, or the views
that they take of them; and the wise policy of to-day seems foolishness, or even madness, tomorrow.
Some men are actuated by mere caprice, and have no sooner effected a desired purpose than it loses
favor in their eyes, and seems to them of little worth. They will make heavy sacrifices to obtain an
alliance, and none to maintain it. They sigh always for something that they have not, and despise what
they have. Human protection is always uncertain, owing to the fickleness of man, who is naturally
"double-minded," and "unstable in all his ways" (Jas_1:8).
II. BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE INSUFFICIENCY. The human protector may, with the best intentions in the
world, prove insufficient. Syria and Ammon summoned Assyria to their aid when they contended with
David (2Sa_10:6, 2Sa_10:16; Psa_83:8); but the result was the entire defeat of the confederate army.
Hannibal called on Macedonia to assist him against the Romans; but Macedonia proved too weak, and
her efforts resulted in her own subjection. There must, in almost every case, be the risk that the protector,
though doing all he can, may fail, and our having called him in exasperate, or even infuriate, our
adversary.
III. BECAUSE OF HUMAN GREED AND SELFISHNESS. The protector may become, is only too apt to
become, the oppressor and the conqueror. Rome's vast empire was built up largely by taking states
under her protection, and then absorbing them. Had Egypt succeeded in defeating Assyria, and rolling
back the tide of invasion that had so long been rising higher and higher, and threatening her own
independence and that of her neighbors, the result would simply have been that Judaea and Samaria
would have been absorbed into Egypt, or at any rate have become Egyptian dependencies. The small
state that calls in one powerful kingdom to help her in her struggle against another rarely gains anything
more than an exchange of masters.
IV. BECAUSE THE GREATEST HUMAN STRENGTH IS POWERLESS AGAINST GOD. The Egyptians
were "men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit" (verse 8). Had all the chariots of Egypt
come forth, and all their footmen and all their horsemen, they would not have saved Judah, since God
had declared that here there was "no work for Egypt" (Isa_19:15), and that Judah, if she trusted in Egypt,
"should be ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory" (Isa_20:5). God can strike an
army with blindness, as he did that of Benhadad (2Ki_6:18) on one occasion; or with panic fear, as he did
that of the same monarch on another (2Ki_7:6); or he can cause quarrel to break out among the
constituent parts of an army, and make the soldiers slay one another (2Ch_20:28); or he can send out a
destroying angel, and kill a hundred and eighty thousand men in a night (2Ki_19:35). Again, the God of
battles determines the issue of battles. "It is nothing to him to help, whether with many or with them that

have no power" (2Ch_14:11). He can cast down and bring to naught the mightiest human protector; he
can save, if he wills to save, by his own angelic army, without the intervention of any human aid at all.
9. CALVIN, “3.And surely the Egyptian is a man, and not God. It may be thought that Isaiah here
brings forward nothing but what is common and beyond all doubt; for who ever imagined that the
Egyptians were not “” and must be put in the place of “” There is indeed no debate on this point, and it is
openly acknowledged; but when it is found necessary to reduce it to practice, men are altogether dull of
apprehension, or remain uncertain about that which they formerly appeared to know and firmly to believe.
They exalt themselves as highly, and claim as much for themselves, as if they did not believe that they
are men, and did not think that they ought to obey God. This is the reason why Scripture so frequently
warns
“ to trust in men, than whom nothing can be more vain.” (Psa_146:3.)
“ is he who trusteth in man, and relieth on an arm of flesh.” (Jer_17:5.)
Yet we see both princes and men of ordinary rank contrive and resolve in such a manner as if they could
establish for a hundred years all that they contrived, and could subject heaven, sea, and earth, and could
regulate and dispose everything according to their will. When we perceive in men such pride and
arrogance, we need not wonder that the Prophet exclaims that “ Egyptians are men, and not God;” for the
Jews ascribed to them what ought to be ascribed to God, the defense and preservation of the Church,
which God claims for himself alone, and does not allow to be given to another. Isaiah therefore indirectly
censures that contempt of God and wicked confidence by which they are swelled with pride.
Here we see how great a difference there is between God and men; for men have no power in
themselves but what God has granted to them. If we were reasoning about the nature and excellence of
man, we might bring forward the singular gifts which he has received from God; but when he is contrasted
with God, he must be reduced to nothing; for nothing can be ascribed to man without taking it from God.
And this is the reason why we cannot agree with the Papists, when we argue about the cause of
salvation, freewill, the value of works, and merits; for since on this subject God is contrasted with man, we
must take from God whatever is attributed to man. But they make a division between man and God, so as
to assign one part to God, and another part to man; while we say, that the whole and undivided cause of
salvation must be ascribed to God, and that no part of it can be attributed to another without detestable
sacrilege. In a word, let us learn that in such a contrast nothing worthy of praise can be left for man.
And their horses are flesh and not spirit. By the word flesh he means weakness and frailty; for what is
there in “” but corruption? He speaks of “” but to the Egyptians also belongs a weakness of the same or of
a kindred nature; as if he had said that they, and all their forces, have nothing that is solid or permanent.
Although the Egyptians had a soul as well as a body, yet, so far as they were creatures, and dwelt in a
frail tabernacle, they must hold an inferior rank; as if he had said, that they do not possess heavenly or
spiritual power; as it is said also in the Psalm,
“ not trust in princes; for their breath shall go out, and they shall return to their earth.”
(Psa_146:3.)
So far as relates to “” the word “” applies to them with greater propriety; but it is not wonderful that men

are sent to learn from rottenness how frail they are.
As soon as Jehovah shall stretch out his arm. From this threatening we may draw a universal doctrine,
that this wickedness shall not pass unpunished; for the Lord will not suffer men with impunity to give to
creatures the honor due to him, or to rely on the assistance of men with that confidence which ought to be
placed on him alone. He therefore threatens those who shall yield assistance and give occasion to false
confidence, as well as those who shall make use of their assistance and rely on it for their safety. And if
the Lord cannot endure this wicked confidence, where nothing more than temporal safety is concerned,
how much less will he endure those who, in order to obtain eternal salvation, contrive various aids
according to their own fancy, and thus elevate the power of men, so as to ascribe to it the place and
authority of God.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
“As a lion growls,
a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds
is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
or disturbed by their clamor—
so the Lord Almighty will come down
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
1.BARNES, “For thus hath the Lord spoken - The design of this verse and the following
is to assure the Jews of the certain protection of Yahweh, and thus to induce them to put their
trust in him rather than to seek the alliance with Egypt. To do this the prophet makes use of two
striking illustrations, the first of which is, that Yahweh would be no more alarmed at the number

and power of their enemies than a fierce lion would be that was intent on his prey, and could not
be frightened from it by any number of men that should come against him. The “point” of this
comparison is, that as the lion that “was intent on his purpose” could not be frightened from it
by numbers, so it would be with Yahweh, who “was equally intent on his purpose” - the defense
of the city of Jerusalem. It does not mean, of course, that the purpose of God and of the lion
resembled each other, but merely that there was similar “intensity of purpose,” and similar
adherence to it notwithstanding all opposition. The figure is one that denotes the highest
vigilance, firmness, steadiness, and a determination on the part of Yahweh that Jerusalem
should not fall into the hands of the Assyrians.
Like as the lion - The divine nature and purposes are often represented in the Scriptures by
metaphors, allegories, and comparisons taken from animals, and especially from the lion (see
Deu_33:20; Job_10:16; Psa_7:2; Hos_11:10).
And the young lion - The vigorous, strong, fierce lion. The use of the two here, gives
intensity and strength to the comparison. It is observable that the lion is seldom mentioned
alone in the Scriptures.
Roaring on his prey - Roaring as he seizes on his prey. This is the moment of the greatest
intensity of purpose in the lion, and it is therefore used by Isaiah to denote the intense purpose
of Yahweh to defend Jerusalem, and not to be deterred by any number of enemies.
When a multitude of shepherds is called forth - When the neighborhood is alarmed,
and all the inhabitants turn out to destroy him. This comparison is almost exactly in the spirit
and language of Homer, “Il.” xii. 209, following:
So pressed with hunger from the mountain’s brow,
Descends a lion on the flocks below;
So stalks the lordly savage o’er the plain,
In sullen majesty and stern disdain:
In vain loud mastiffs bay him from afar,
And shepherds gall him with an iron war;
Regardless, furious, he pursues his way;
He foams, he roars, he rends the panting prey.
Pope
So also Il. xviii. 161, 162:
- But checked he turns; repulsed attacks again.
With fiercer shouts his lingering troops he fires
Nor yields a step, nor from his post retires;
So watchful shepherds strive to force in vain,
The hungry lion from the carcass slain.
Pope
He will not be afraid - He will be so intent on his prey that he will not heed their shouting.
Nor abase himself - That is, he will not be frightened, or disheartened.
So shall the Lord of hosts - That is, with the same intensity of purpose; with the same
fixedness of design. He will be as little dismayed and diverted from his purpose by the number,
the designs, and the war shout of the Assyrian armies.

2. CLARKE, “Like as the lion - This comparison is exactly in the spirit and manner, and
very nearly approaching to the expression, of Homer.
Βη ρ’ ιµεν, ᆞστε λεων ορεσιτροφος, ᆇστ’ επιδευης
∆ηρον εᇽ κρειων, κελεται δε ᅛ θυµος αγηνωρ,
Μηλων πειρησοντα, και ες πυκινον δοµον ελθειν·
Ειπερ γαρ χ’ εᆓρᇽσι παρ’ αυτοψι βωτορας ανδρας
Συν κυσι και δουρεσσι φυλασσοντας περι µηλα,
Ου ρα τ’ απειρητος µεµονε σταθµοιο διεσθαι.
Αλλ’ ᆇγ’ αም η ᅧρπαξε µεταλµενος, ηε και αυτος
Εβλητ’ εν πρωτοισι θοης απο χειρος ακοντι.
Iliad 12:299.
As the bold lion, mountain-bred, now long
Famished, with courage and with hunger stung
Attempts the thronged fold: him nought appals,
Though dogs and armed shepherds stand in guard
Collected; he nathless undaunted springs
O’er the high fence, and rends the trembling prey;
Or, rushing onward, in his breast receives
The well-aimed spear.
Of metaphors, allegories, and comparisons of the Hebrew poets, in which the Divine nature
and attributes are represented under images taken from brutes and other low objects; of their
effect, their sublimity, and the causes of it; see De Sac. Poes. Heb., Praelect. 16 sub. fin.
3. GILL, “For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me,.... The prophet Isaiah, who had heard
and received what follows from the Lord, and therefore it might be depended upon; and they are
words of grace and mercy, promising preservation and deliverance; and therefore it was a
foolish thing to send to Egypt for help:
Like as the lion, and the young lion roaring on his prey; or "muttering", or "growling
over his prey" (r); for the lion roars when he is hungry, and wants a prey, and not when he has
got one; but when he has one, and is tearing it in pieces, and feeding upon it, he makes a lower
noise, a growling one, especially when he apprehends anyone near to disturb him:
when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him; or, "a fulness of shepherds"
(s); the whole posse of them, all that are in the towns and villages, or fields adjacent: who, when
a lion has got a lamb or sheep out of the flock, are alarmed and called together, to deliver it, if
possible, out of his hands; one not daring to venture, or being not sufficient to disturb him, or
drive him away: or, "when a multitude of shepherds meet him" (t); with the prey in his jaws; or
rather "call to him", make a noise, in hopes to frighten him, and cause him to drop his prey, that
being all they can do, not daring to go near him; which sense is confirmed by what follows:

he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them; he will
not leave and lose his prey, or flee from it or them, for the yell and confused noise they make;
nor move at all the faster for them, not being in the least intimidated by them:
so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill
thereof; that is, he shall come down from heaven by his angel, or in the display of his mighty
power, and fight against the Assyrian army, in favour of his people, the inhabitants of Zion or
Jerusalem, and deliver them; and there will be no more withstanding him, or putting him off
from his purpose, or preventing his good designs and resolutions, than the shepherds are able to
divert a lion from his prey. The simile is expressive of the power of God, and of his certain
accomplishment of his purposes and promises.
4. HENRY, “That God would appear against Jerusalem's enemies with the boldness of a lion
over his prey, Isa_31:4. When the lion comes out to seize his prey a multitude of shepherds
come out against him; for it becomes neighbours to help one another when persons or goods
are in danger. These shepherds dare not come near the lion; all they can do is to make a noise,
and with that they think to frighten him off. But does he regard it? No: he will not be afraid of
their voice, nor abase himself so far as to be in the least moved by it either to quit his prey or to
make any more haste than otherwise he would do in seizing it. Thus will the Lord of hosts come
down to fight for Mount Zion, with such an unshaken undaunted resolution not to be moved by
any opposition; and he will as easily and irresistibly destroy the Assyrian army as a lion tears a
lamb in pieces. Whoever appear against God, they are but like a multitude of poor simple
shepherds shouting at a lion, who scorns to take notice of them or so much as to alter his pace
for them. Surely those that have such a protector need not go to Egypt for help. (2.)
5. JAMISON, “(Isa_42:13; Hos_11:10).
roaring on — “growling over” his prey.
abase himself — be disheartened or frightened.
6. K&D, “And things of this kind would occur. “For thus hath Jehovah spoken to me, As the
lion growls, and the young lion over its prey, against which a whole crowd of shepherds is
called together; he is not alarmed at their cry, and does not surrender at their noise; so will
Jehovah of hosts descend to the campaign against the mountain of Zion, and against their
hill.” There is no other passage in the book of Isaiah which sounds so Homeric as this (vid., Il.
xviii. 161, 162, xii. 299ff.). It has been misunderstood by Knobel, Umbreit, Drechsler, and others,
who suppose ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ‫ּא‬ ְ‫צ‬ ִ‫ל‬ to refer to Jehovah's purpose to fight for Jerusalem: Jehovah, who would
no more allow His city to be taken from Him, than a lion would give up a lamb that it had taken
as its prey. But how could Jerusalem be compared to a lamb which a lion holds in its claws as
tereph? (Isa_5:29). We may see, even from Isa_29:7, what construction is meant to be put upon
‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫.צ‬ Those sinners and their protectors would first of all perish; for like a fierce indomitable
lion would Jehovah advance against Jerusalem, and take it as His prey, without suffering
Himself to be thwarted by the Judaeans and Egyptians, who set themselves in opposition to His
army (The Assyrians). The mountain of Zion was the citadel and temple; the hill of Zion the city
of Jerusalem (Isa_10:32). They would both be given up to the judgment of Jehovah, without any

possibility of escape. The commentators have been misled by the fact, that a simile of a
promising character follows immediately afterwards, without anything to connect the one with
the other. But this abrupt µετάβασις was intended as a surprise, and was a true picture of the
actual fulfilment of the prophecy; for in the moment of the greatest distress, when the actual
existence of Jerusalem was in question (cf., Isa_10:33-34), the fate of Ariel took suddenly and
miraculously a totally different turn (Isa_29:2). In this sense, a pleasant picture is placed side by
side with the terrible one (compare Mic_5:6-7).
7. PULPIT, “God unhindered by fears of man.
We fear and tremble before boastful words and a great show of force, but we may well remember that
God does not. He reckons it all at its true worth, and goes on with his Divine working quite unmoved by all
the rage. The figure in this verse needs careful explanation. The allusion is to the boastings and
threatenings of Sennacherib. God has undertaken to defend the city of Jerusalem. As the lion will not give
up his prey, so Jehovah will not allow the Assyrians to rob him of his "peculiar treasure," Jerusalem. The
vast armies of the Assyrians were as nothing in the estimation of Jehovah. He viewed unperturbed their
attempt to seize the locality which he had chosen as his special residence. Matthew Henry, with quaint
force, says, "Whoever appear against God, they are but like a multitude of poor simple shepherds
shouting at a lion, who scorns to take notice of them, or so much as to alter his pace for them." Taking an
illustration from another sphere of nature, the Divine calmness under excitement that alarms men may be
illustrated by the following passage from Gosse: "There was a heavy swell from the westward, which,
coming on in broadly heaving undulations, gave the idea of power indeed, but of power m repose, as
when a lion crouches in his lair with sheathed talons and smoothed mane and half-closed eyes. But no
sooner does each broad swell, dark and polished, come into contact with these walls and towers of solid
rock, than its aspect is instantly changed. It rears itself in fury, dashes with hoarse roar, and apparently
resistless might, against the opposition, breaks in a cloud of snowy foam, which hides the rocky
eminence, and makes us for a moment think the sea has conquered. But the next, the baffled assailant is
recoiling in a hundred cascades, or writhing and groveling in swirls around the feet of those strong pillars
which still stand in their majesty, unmoved, immovable, ready to receive and to repel the successive
assaults of wave after wave with ever the same result." There is a quality or power in man, which we call
in a good sense sang-froid—a power of keeping calm in times of excitement, which we are accustomed to
admire, and which may help us to realize the figure of God given in this passage. A remarkable story is
told in connection with Prince Bismarck, who is a striking example of persistent keeping on at his designs,
however loud may be the howlings around him. It is said that he wears an iron ring, on which is inscribed
the Russian word "Nitschewo," or "It does not matter." In the winter of 1862 he was hurriedly journeying in
Russia, and in answer to various appeals to his driver, he could get nothing from him save this one word,
"Nitschewo." At last the sledge was upset, and taking an iron bar which had become detached from the
sledge, Bismarck, in his annoyance, thought of striking the man, but feeling he had learned a life-lesson
from the frequent repetition of this word, he kept the bar, and had a ring made of it to remind him, in the
worryful times of life that "it does not matter." Consider—
I. THE THINGS WHICH GOD DOES NOT HEED. They go under this heading—the boasts of the proud.
Empty words. Noisy deeds. The material forces which lie at the command of men. These greatly alarm
us. Let but a sound of threatening rise into the air, and we cry in our fright, "The Church is in danger!" God
is not disturbed. His Church is safe; the "gates of hell shall not prevail against her." Let but the nations
unite for some act of violence towards the Lord's Jerusalem, and in fright her statesmen run off to Egypt

for help. Jerusalem is in no real danger—a wall of Divine guardian fire is all round about her, and God will
defend his own.
II. THE THINGS WHICH GOD DOES HEED. These will go under the heading—the cry of the humble. He
who is best beard by man when he speaks with a "still, small voice," best hears man when he speaks to
him with a "still, small voice." Not the thunder of men's anger, but the quiet evening breeze of men's
humble prayer, goes right in to the throne of God. We may learn from this figure of God's patient
indifference to what seems so alarming, how we may rightly estimate opposing forces and persons who
show enmity to us. Most of such forces and persons had better just be passed by, left alone.
"Nitschewo"—"It does not matter." We all of us make too much of evil things and noisy oppositions. We
magnify them until they fret and weary and hinder us. Would that we were more like God, who—
"Moves on his undisturbed affairs!"
8. CALVIN, “4.For thus hath Jehovah said to me. The Prophet adds this verse, that it may not be
thought that the Lord leaves us destitute of necessary means; for if, while he forbids us to place our
confidence in creatures, he did not promise us any assistance, we might complain that he gave ground
for despair, and not for consolation; as we saw, a little before, that men are more careful and attentive
than they ought to be, because they think that they will be deficient in thoughtfulness, if they rest satisfied
with God alone, and abstain from forbidden means. He therefore takes away every excuse, when he
promises that he will be a faithful guardian to us; for what pretense can be left, if we despise the salvation
which he offers to us of his own accord? It is therefore as if he had said, “ Lord assists, and will assist; he
forbids you to ask assistance from the Egyptians.” By comparing himself to a lion, a very powerful animal
and keenly bent on prey, he employs a very appropriate comparison, to shew that he is in the highest
degree both able and willing to defend us.
In the second part of the comparison, the Prophet dwells largely on the great eagerness with which the
Lord takes hold of his people, keeps them near himself, preserves them from being carried off, and
defends them against all dangers; while he also points out that strength and power which no arms and no
forces can resist. Now, it is impossible that comparisons should hold on every point, nor is it necessary,
but they ought to be suitable to the subject which is handled. Since therefore we know that the Lord loves
us so much and takes such care of us, must we not be worse than mad if we despise him, and seek other
aids, which will not only be useless but destructive to us?
9. CHARLES SIMEON, “GOD THE PROTECTOR OF HIS PEOPLE
Isa_31:4-5. Thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey,
when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase
himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill
thereof. As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and
passing over he will preserve it.
THE first of the commandments is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” And that is directly
violated, when we alienate from God the confidence that is due to him alone, and place it on any creature
in preference to him. This was the sin which the prophet reproved, both in this and the whole foregoing

chapter. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, had come against Jerusalem with a powerful, and, humanly
speaking, irresistible army. Many of the Jews, instead of looking to Jehovah for his gracious and merciful
protection, applied to Egypt for help, and carried their wealth to Egypt, in order to obtain it. God, offended
with this want of confidence in him, sent them word, that the Egyptians should help in vain, and to no
purpose; and that their real strength was, to sit still, and to rely on God alone [Note: Cite Isa_30:1-7; and
compare it with ver. 1–3.] — — — If they would with real penitence and faith rely on him, He would afford
them speedy and effectual deliverance. This assurance God delivered to them under the different images
which are contained in my text; which shew, not only what God would be to them, but what he will be to
his Church and people in all ages of the world.
Let me, with a special view to these images, point out to you,
I. The protection which God will afford to his people—
We are told, that, “as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people
from henceforth even for ever: and that they who trust in him shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be
removed, but abideth for ever [Note: Psa_125:1-2.].” But, as the emergency that existed at the time the
prophet uttered my text was extremely urgent, so the images by which he was directed to encourage their
affiance in him were precisely such as were suited to the occasion. God promised to protect them—
With the firmness of a lion—
[A lion, growling over his prey, regards not the shouts of a multitude of shepherds: unmoved himself, he
infuses terror into them; and would soon make them repent of their temerity, if they dared to approach
him. And who shall prevail on Jehovah to relinquish his defence of Jerusalem? in reference to the
Assyrian army, which God was determined to destroy, the prophet says, “The Lord of Hosts hath
purposed; and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out; and who shall turn it back
[Note: Isa_14:24-27.]?” The same also we may say in reference to the weakest of all his saints: “If God be
for you, who can be against you [Note:Rom_8:31.]?” “Who is he that shall harm you, if ye be followers of
that which is good [Note: 1Pe_3:13.]?” God is not only a tower of defence to his people to preserve them,
but “a wall of fire round about them,” that shall devour their assailants [Note: Zec_2:5.]. He may indeed
suffer the enemies of his people to prevail for a season; and they may vaunt, as the Assyrians did, of all
their conquests: but they are only as a rod in Jehovah’s hands; and all which they effect is only as the axe
or saw that accomplishes the will of him who uses it: but when they have effected his purpose, they
themselves, who sought nothing but to gratify their own ambition, shall be made monuments of his
righteous indignation: “The light of Israel will be to them for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it
shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day [Note: Isa_10:5-7; Isa_10:12-17.].” Yes, verily,
“God’s counsel shall stand, and he will do all his will [Note: Isa_46:10.]:” and “when He works, who shall
let it [Note: Isa_43:13.]?” “The Lion of the tribe of Judah [Note: Rev_5:5.]” shall assuredly prevail, though
all the powers of earth and hell were combined against him.]
2. With the tenderness of a parent bird—
[A bird, though utterly unable to cope with a bird of prey which it sees hovering over its nest, will fly to
protect its young; and, insensible to its own danger, will intercept its potent adversary, and rather perish
itself than give up its offspring to the devourer. And, “for our miseries is Jehovah grieved
[Note: Jdg_10:16.];” yea, in all our afflictions, too, our God himself is afflicted [Note: Isa_63:9.]:” and
whosoever “toucheth us, toucheth the apple of his eye [Note: Zec_2:8.].” When Pharaoh had overtaken
the Hebrews at the Red Sea, “the pillar of fire, which had hitherto led the fugitives, went and stood

between the Egyptian camp and them; so that they came not near to his people all the night,” during
which period an opening was made for their escape [Note: Exo_14:19-21.]. And in ten thousand
instances has God interposed for his people in every age; nor is there any one, who, if he could review all
the dealings of God towards him, might not find, in his own experience, some interpositions fully
answerable to the image that is before us.]
3. With the success of the attendant angel—
[At the destruction of the Egyptian first-born, Jehovah, the Angel of the Covenant, accompanied the
destroying angel; and, wherever he saw the blood of the paschal lamb sprinkled on the door-posts,
immediately interposed, and constrained the destroyer to pass over that house: in remembrance of which
marvellous deliverance, a feast was instituted, and was called “The Feast of the Lord’s Passover
[Note: Exo_12:23; Exo_12:27.].” To that the prophet, in my text, refers; saying, that “Jehovah, passing
over Jerusalem, will preserve it.” Now, so effectual was the Lord’s intervention in that instance, that, whilst
in every other house, throughout all the land of Egypt, the first-born both of man and beast was slain, in
the houses of the Hebrews died not so much as one [Note: Exo_12:29-30.]. And, when was so much as
one true believer ever left to perish? We are expressly told, that “it is not the will of our Father that one of
his little ones should perish [Note: Mat_18:14.].” No: however sifted his people be, “not the smallest grain
shall ever full upon the earth [Note: Amo_9:9.].” Behold the Apostle Paul: no less than forty persons had
bound themselves, by an oath, to murder him: and so well were their plans laid, that there did not appear
the slightest chance for his escape. But God so ordered it, that Paul’s own nephew overheard the plot,
and, by a timely mention of it to the governor, defeated it: and thus was that valuable life preserved
[Note: Act_23:12-24.]. Peter too, according to all human appearance, was consigned to death, there
being only a few hours to elapse before he was to be brought forth from prison for execution. But with
irresistible power did God cause the irons, with which his servant was bound, to fall off; and the prison
doors to open, as it were of their own accord: and thus was the stroke averted in the very instant that it
was about to fall [Note: Act_12:6-11.]. What dangers have awaited us, we shall never know till we stand
before our God in judgment: but then it will be found, that God has been our shield from numberless
assaults; and that, through the agency of his holy angels, we have “been kept, on ten thousands of
occasions, from dashing our foot against a stone [Note: Psa_91:11-12.].”]
Such being the security promised to us, let us consider,
II. Our duty resulting from it—
This merciful care, which God vouchsafes to us, doubtless calls for corresponding feelings on our part. If
he affords us such marvellous protection, we ought to surrender up ourselves to him in a way of,
1. Affiance—
[The fault of the Hebrews was, that they leaned on an arm of flesh, instead of relying solely upon God.
And we must be on our guard against this sad propensity. We are “not to say, ‘A confederacy, A
confederacy,’ with them that say, ‘A confederacy;’ but to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, and to make
Him our fear and Him our dread [Note: Isa_8:12-13.].” The language of David should, under any
emergency whatever, be the language of our hearts: “Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills (to any earthly
powers)? From whence then cometh our help? Our help cometh from the Lord, who (is not only above
them all, but made them all, yea,) made heaven and earth [Note: Psa_121:1-2. Bishop Horne’s
translation.].” It is not possible for our confidence in God to be too strong, provided we leave to God the
time and manner of fulfilling his promises. He may, as he did in the case of Jerusalem, suffer matters to

proceed to the greatest extremity: but “the vision will come at its appointed time [Note: Hab_2:3.]:” and, in
a full assurance that it shall not tarry beyond that time, we should say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust
in him [Note: Job_13:15.].” The well-known boast of the Apostle should be ours [Note: Rom_8:35-39.] —
— — And in dependence upon God, we should hurl defiance on all our enemies, even as Hezekiah was
taught to do in the very depth of his extremity [Note: Isa_37:22.].]
2. Gratitude—
[“If the Lord had not been on our side, now may Israel f the Lord had not been on our side when men rose
up against us, they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters
had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul [Note: Psa_124:1-4.].” Never, till all the wonders
of God’s love shall be revealed, shall we have any idea of the deliverances that have been vouchsafed
unto us, and of our obligation to God on account of them. “Satan, that subtle adversary, who beguiled our
first parents in Paradise, has, on thousands of occasions, sought to draw our minds from the simplicity
that is in Christ [Note: 2Co_11:3.]:” yea, “as a roaring lion, also, he has been seeking to devour us
[Note: 1Pe_5:8.].” And is it owing to our own wisdom or strength that we have not fallen a prey unto his
teeth? No: the Lord has interposed to screen us from his fiery darts; and has again and again rescued us
from the snares which he had laid for our feet. See how David was kept from shedding blood
[Note: 1Sa_25:32-33.], and Peter from utter apostasy [Note: Luk_22:31-32.]! and who can tell what evils
you might have perpetrated, and what your state might have at this moment been, if God had not “kept
you as the apple of his eye,” and “borne you, as on eagle’s wings,” throughout this dreary wilderness
[Note: Deu_32:10-11.]? I tell you, Brethren, that his visible interpositions for his people of old have been
only shadows of what he has invisibly done, and is at this moment doing, for you, if only you place your
trust in him: and that David’s acknowledgment is that which it becomes every one of you to make: “The
salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help
them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him
[Note: Psa_37:39-40.].”]
3. Fidelity—
[Believing in God, we have nothing to fear, and nothing even to think of, but how we may best serve and
honour him. St. Paul, when in daily expectation of a cruel death, said, “None of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I may but finish my course with joy, and fulfil the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus [Note: Act_20:24.].” And I would ask, of all who believe the
declarations in my text, Should not such “love constrain you to live unto your God [Note: 2Co_5:14.]?”
Realize the determination which he formed from all eternity, and from which not all the wickedness of our
ruined world has ever been able to divert him, to save our souls from death by the sacrifice of his only
dear Son in our stead. Realize the merciful interposition of the Lord Jesus Christ between us and the
wrath of our offended God, and his actually becoming a curse for us. Realize his dying in our place and
stead, and by his own obedience unto death effecting a reconciliation for us, and purchasing for us all the
glory of heaven. Realize, I say, the deliverances shadowed forth by those vouchsafed to Jerusalem, and
spiritually fulfilled in you; and what, think you, will be your feelings on the occasion, or your expression of
them? Will there be any bounds to your love, any limits to your obedience, any intermission to your songs
of praise? No: you will be “ready either to be bound or to die for His sake,” who has “so loved you, and
given himself for you;” and “you will be satisfied with no attainment, till you shall awake up after the
likeness of his perfect righteousness [Note: Psa_17:15.].”]

5 Like birds hovering overhead,
the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver it,
he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”
1.BARNES, “As birds flying - This is another comparison indicating substantially the same
thing as the former, that Yahweh would protect Jerusalem. The idea here is, that He would do it
in the same manner as birds defend their young by hovering over them, securing them under
their wings, and leaping forward, if they are suddenly attacked, to defend them. Our Saviour has
used a similar figure to indicate his readiness to have defended and saved the same city
Mat_23:27, and it is possible that he may have had this passage in his eye. The phrase ‘birds
flying,’ may denote the “rapidity” with which birds fly to defend their young, and hence, the
rapidity with which God would come to defend Jerusalem; or it may refer to the fact that birds,
when their young are attacked, fly, or flutter around them to defend them; they will not leave
them.
And passing over - ‫פסוח‬ pasoach. Lowth renders this, ‘Leaping forward.’ This word, which is
usually applied in some of its forms to the Passover Exo_12:13, Exo_12:23, Exo_12:27;
Num_9:4; Jos_5:11; 2Ch_30:18, properly means, as a verb, “to pass over,” and hence, to
preserve or spare. The idea in the passage is, that Yahweh would protect Jerusalem, as a bird
defends its young.
2. CLARKE, “Passing over “Leaping forward” - The generality of interpreters observe
in this place an allusion to the deliverance which God vouchsafed to his people when he
destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians, and exempted those of the Israelites sojourning
among them by a peculiar interposition. The same word is made use of here which is used upon
that occasion, and which gave the name to the feast which was instituted in commemoration of
that deliverance, ‫פסח‬ pesach. But the difficulty is to reconcile the commonly received meaning of
that word with the circumstances of the similitude here used to illustrate the deliverance
represented as parallel to the deliverance in Egypt.
“As the mother birds hovering over their young,
So shall Jehovah God of hosts protect Jerusalem;
Protecting and delivering, passing over, and rescuing her.”

This difficulty is, I think, well solved by Vitringa, whose remark is the more worthy of
observation, as it leads to the true meaning of an important word, which hitherto seems greatly
to have been misunderstood, though Vitringa himself, as it appears to me, has not exactly
enough defined the precise meaning of it. He says, “‫פסח‬ pasach signifies to cover, to protect by
covering: σκεπασω ᆓµας, Septuagint. Jehovah obteget ostium; ‘The Lord will cover or protect the
door:’” whereas it means that particular action or motion by which God at that time placed
himself in such a situation as to protect the house of the Israelite against the destroying angel; to
spring forward, to throw one’s self in the way, in order to cover and protect. Cocceius comes
nearer to the true meaning than Vitringa, by rendering it gradum facere, to march, to step
forward; Lexicon in voc. The common meaning of the word ‫פסח‬ pasach upon other occasions is
to halt, to be lame, to leap, as in a rude manner of dancing, (as the prophets of Baal did,
1Ki_18:26), all which agrees very well together; for the motion of a lame person is a perpetual
springing forward, by throwing himself from the weaker upon the stronger leg. The common
notion of God’s passage over the houses of the Israelites is, that in going through the land of
Egypt to smite the first-born, seeing the blood on the door of the houses of the Israelites, he
passed over, or skipped, those houses, and forbore to smite them. But that this is not the true
notion of the thing, will be plain from considering the words of the sacred historian, where he
describes very explicitly the action: “For Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and
when he seeth the blood on the lintels and on the two side posts, Jehovah will spring forward
over (or before) the door, ‫ופסח‬‫יהוה‬‫על‬‫הפתח‬ upasach Yehovah al happethach, and will not suffer the
destroyer to come into your houses to smite you, “Exo_12:23. Here are manifestly two distinct
agents, with which the notion of passing over is not consistent, for that supposes but one agent.
The two agents are the destroying angel passing through to smite every house, and Jehovah the
Protector keeping pace with him; and who, seeing the door of the Israelite marked with the
blood, the token prescribed, leaps forward, throws himself with a sudden motion in the way,
opposes the destroying angel, and covers and protects that house against the destroying angel,
nor suffers him to smite it. In this way of considering the action, the beautiful similitude of the
bird protecting her young answers exactly to the application by the allusion to the deliverance in
Egypt. As the mother bird spreads her wings to cover her young, throws herself before them, and
opposes the rapacious bird that assaults them, so shall Jehovah protect, as with a shield,
Jerusalem from the enemy, protecting and delivering, springing forward and rescuing her; ᆓπερβ
ινων, as the three other Greek interpreters, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, render it. The
Septuagint, περιποιησεται· instead of which MS. Pachom. has περιβησεται, circumeundo
proteget, “in going about he shall protect, “which I think is the true reading. - Homer, 2 viii. 329,
expresses the very same image by this word: -
Αιας δ’ ουκ αµελησε κασιγνητοιο πεσοντος,
Αλλα θεων περιβη, και οᅷ σακος αµφεκαλυψε:
“ - But Ajax his broad shield displayed,
And screened his brother with a mighty shade.”
- ᆍς Χρυσην αµφιβεβηκας.
Il. 1:37

Which the scholiast explains by περιβεβηκας, ᆓπερµαχεις, i.e., “Thou who strictly guardest
Chryses.” - L. On this verse Kimchi says, “The angel of the Lord which destroyed the Assyrians is
compared to a lion, Isa_31:4, for his strength: and here (Isa_31:5) to flying birds, for his
swiftness.”
3. GILL, “As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem,.... As the
preceding metaphor expresses the mighty power of God, this his tenderness and affection, as
well as his speed and swiftness in the deliverance of his people. As birds in the air, at a distance,
especially the eagle, have their eye upon their nests, and their young ones in them, and when in
danger fly to their assistance, and hover over them, and about them, to keep off those that would
hurt them, or carry them away; so the Lord, on high, sees his people when in distress, and
hastens to help them, and does surround, protect, and defend them: thus the Lord did, when
Sennacherib with his army besieged Jerusalem; who boasted, with respect to other nations, that
he had "found as a nest the riches of the people", and that "there was none that moved the wing
against him", Isa_10:14 to which it is thought the allusion is here:
defending also he will deliver it; from present distress, the siege of the Assyrian army:
and passing over he will preserve it; passing over the city of Jerusalem to the army of the
king of Assyria, that lay encamped against it; and smiting that by an angel with a sudden
destruction, preserved the city from the ruin it was threatened with. The allusion is rightly
thought to be to the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites, when he destroyed the
firstborn in Egypt, Exo_12:23 where the same word is used as here, and nowhere else.
4. HENRY, “That God would appear for Jerusalem's friends with the tenderness of a bird
over her young, Isa_31:5. God was ready to gather Jerusalem, as a hen gathers her brood under
her wings (Mat_23:37); but those that trusted to the Egyptians would not be gathered. As birds
flying to their nests with all possible speed, when they see them attacked, and fluttering about
their nests with all possible concern, hovering over their young ones to protect them and drive
away the assailants, with such compassion and affection will the Lord of hosts defend
Jerusalem. As an eagle stirs up her young when they are in danger, takes them and bears them
on her wings, so the Lord led Israel out of Egypt (Deu_32:11, Deu_32:12); and he has now the
same tender concern for them that he had then, so that they need not flee into Egypt again for
shelter. Defending, he will deliver it; he will so defend it as to secure the continuance of its
safety, not defend it for a while and abandon it at last, but defend it so that it shall not fall into
the enemies' hand. I will defend this city to save it, Isa_37:35. Passing over he will preserve it;
the word for passing over is used in this sense only here and Exo_12:12, Exo_12:23, Exo_12:27,
concerning the destroying angel's passing over the houses of the Israelites when he slew all the
first-born of the Egyptians, to which story this passage refers. The Assyrian army was to be
routed by a destroying angel, who should pass over Jerusalem, though that deserved to be
destroyed, and draw his sword only against the besiegers. They shall be slain by the pestilence,
but none of the besieged shall take the infection. Thus he will again pass over the houses of his
people and secure them.
5. JAMISON, “As in the image of “the lion,” the point of comparison is the fearless might of
Jehovah; so in that of the birds, it is His solicitous affection (Deu_32:11; Psa_91:4; Mat_23:37).

Isaiah 31 commentary

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Isaiah 31 commentary